SCOTTISH house prices have risen by an average of £46 a day in a year as buyers rushed to avoid the new tax on purchasing a home, new figures show.
Prices in Scotland have shot up by around twice the rate of England and Wales in the past year with the average house price north of the border rising by 10.3 percent.
They have risen year on year to £180,892 from £163,932.
The Your Move/Acadata figures shows that the average price of a home in Scotland shot up by 9.3 percent in March alone ahead of the April introduction of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), which replaced stamp duty in Scotland.
The report reveals that average house prices have fallen back by 3.7 percent since March's £187,965 peak.
Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said: "Two months into Scotland's new transaction tax regime, and the impact of the overhaul is still reverberating around the property market.
"The sentiment from buyers in our branches is upbeat as the stability of the housing recovery shines though. There is no denying that the recent tax turbulence has affected property prices in the shorter-term, with the latest monthly dip testament to further shock-waves of the LBTT, as the market continues to absorb the change."
The house price rise hotspots in Scotland were in Clackmannanshire where the typical home cost 25.5 percent more over the year followed by South Ayrshire (16.8 percent), West Dunbartonshire (15.8 percent), Edinburgh (15.7 percent) and Glasgow (15.2 percent).
Losing out was East Renfrewshire, which last year had the highest average house prices in Scotland, but dropped to fourth in the local authority area rankings with a one percent annual rise. Edinburgh now tops the list of the most expensive average house prices in Scotland with the typical home now costing £266,281.
Ms Campbell said that since the new LBTT regime was enforced, there has been only one million-pound home sold in Scotland in two months, which is "reining back current measures of growth".
Under LBTT, purchasers pay an escalating rate on different tranches of the purchase price, with five percent paid on the section between £250,001 and £325,000 and 10 per cent above that. It meant that those buying a home worth more than £333,000 was worse off compared to stamp duty.
John Boyle, director of research and strategy at Rettie and Co said: "Over the course of the year, I would expect the price to settle down further, perhaps growth of only 5-6 percent by the year end, which is much more modest and on a par with last year."
John Kelly managing partner at Corum added: "There is no 'house price boom'. Supply and demand have been for some time been imbalanced in favour of demand, which was greatly exacerbated by little building between 2008 & 2013 - following the global recession."
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